I hope your Easter weekend went well and you are probably now recovering from the chocolate party, so I’m bringing you something to help!

I’d like to thank HarperCollins UK for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. I am sharing an extract today and we can talk about the story when my review gets published on Friday! Can you guess if I liked it? Loved it? Hated it?

The million copy Sunday Times bestseller returns with a taut, compelling psychological thriller that will have you glued to the edge of your seat.

Sometimes your first love won’t let you go…

Lou Wandsworth is used to being headline news as, aged fourteen, she ran away to France with her 31-year-old teacher, Mike Hughes.

Now 32, Lou’s life is in tatters – and she resolves to return home to confront Mike for the damage he has caused. But she soon finds that Mike is unchanged, and is focussing his attention on 13-year-old Chloe Meadows.

Determined to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself, Lou decides to take matters into her own hands. But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as she tries to bring him to justice, it’s clear that Lou could once again become his prey…

About the author: C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son. She started writing fiction in 2005 and her short stories have won several awards and have been published by a variety of literary and women’s magazines.

In 2014, The Bookseller named C.L. Taylor as one of the year’s Bestselling Adult Fiction Debut Authors for The Accident. The Lie and The Missing were Sunday Times top 10 bestsellers in paperback, and both books hit the #1 spot on the Kindle bestseller list. She has sold 1 million books to date.

When she’d read on Facebook that Lou was going to start a new job at Consol eLearning, she’d immediately checked out the company online. According to the website, they developed eLearning solutions for the public and private sector, whatever that meant. Lou’s friends seemed to be as surprised as Wendy by her proposed move from London to Malvern. There were lots of ridiculously effusive comments begging her not to go and several ‘we’ll miss you soooooo much.’ When asked by one friend why she was making the move, Lou had replied, ‘I’ll DM you.’ That had frustrated Wendy almost as much as her initial attempt to add Lou as a friend. Wendy didn’t comment. She never did.
Instead she lurked, reading and analysing everything she found.

She hadn’t planned to sit in the café directly opposite Consol eLearning on Lou’s first day but she’d woken up at 5.30 a.m. and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. With her car in the garage, Monty walked, and no meetings until that afternoon, she had found herself at a bit of a loose end.

I probably won’t see her, she told herself as she settled herself into the single window seat at 8.15a.m. with a pot of tea. And if I don’t, that’s fine. I have work I can catch up on before I meet up with Judith.

But Wendy’s briefcase of paperwork sat untouched by her feet for an hour. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the window and the people walking past. And then she saw her, Lou, walking down the street. She’d watched, her heart pounding in her chest as Lou had pulled at the door to Consol eLearning, then slumped back in her seat, exhausted and spent, as the door closed behind her and she disappeared from view. Wendy made a snap decision. She would stay in the café until lunchtime to see where Lou went. No one could have been more surprised than her when she actually came in.

Now, she looks at her watch – 1.32 p.m. Lou’s late. Yesterday she came in at 1.05 p.m. But there’s no way Wendy can hold on for another second. She really must use the toilet. She grabs her handbag, snatches up her coat and speeds across the café.

When she walks back out again, Lou Wandsworth is standing less than five metres away from her. Shock almost propels Wendy straight back into the ladies’. Across the room, her table has already been snapped up by a family of three and there are no free seats available. She has two choices – leave without paying the bill or join the queue behind Lou?

I simply love the choice of extract! So many questions for those who haven’t read the story yet!

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Sounds like a brilliant read, my guess is that you loved it? But I will wait until Friday to find out how much……. 😉
Hope you have a lovely Easter Meggy, and are preparing for your exciting trip.
Amanda.xx